A 68-year-old Jacksonville Sharks team official was hospitalized and a 6-foot, 245-pound defensive coordinator for the San Jose SaberCats was arrested after the dust cleared from Saturday night’s postgame altercation outside the locker rooms.

Cedric Shawn Walker, 42, is charged with battery of a person 65 or older, a felony, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He was released from the Duval County jail late Sunday on the condition he shows up at his next court appearance.

Moments after the game, a 57-36 SaberCats’ win, coaches, players and team representatives from both clubs argued in a hallway outside their locker rooms at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, said Times-Union sports writer Don Coble, who witnessed the incident.

The argument started when two Sharks cheerleaders who were exiting their locker room were confronted by the Sharks owner who complained the cheerleaders were on the field when they shouldn’t be, according to a police report. Laura Bouchy, a Sharks co-owner intervened, the report said.

Coble said the confrontation became so heated that cheerleaders ran to the media room and hid under desks.

Coble said he told police several San Jose coaches and players also confronted Sharks Assistant General Manager Tim Johnson, 68, and the argument quickly escalated. Johnson was pushed against the wall, and when he turned to walk away he was pushed again.

Coble said Jacksonville trainer Josh Gregoire tried to step in but was struck in the head, though that allowed Johnson, followed by SaberCats personnel, to make a dash for a nearby foyer where he found police. Johnson then collapsed, complaining of chest pains, Coble said.

A witness told police Johnson was hit in the face and his nose was bloodied.

Sharks partner Larry Payne told Coble that Johnson was treated for a concussion at Baptist Medical Center and tests showed he did not have a heart attack.

Sharks managing general partner Jeff Bouchy said Johnson, who also had gallbladder surgery about a week ago, was not released late Sunday as he had believed, according to Coble.

Monday, Bouchy said the league has asked that teams not comment on the incident.

Gregoire suffered cuts on his forehead and a broken nose.

“I tried to help Tim so I grabbed [Walker],” Gregoire told Coble. “That’s when two of them [San Jose coaches] punched me. They chased Tim down the hall.”

Arena security tried to get control, Coble said, but other altercations were spreading closer to the Sharks’ locker room. It took security and about 25 officers to regain control of the situation.

Coble said officers took him into the SaberCats’ locker room to identify Johnson’s attacker, but he wasn’t there. Walker was found waiting in the parking lot, police told Coble.

The SaberCats released a statement to the San Jose Mercury News late Sunday, calling the incident “unfortunate” and claiming racial characterizations were used by Sharks personnel.

“An altercation took place, stemming from a verbal confrontation involving alleged racial epithets directed towards members of the SaberCats coaching staff by a front office official of the Sharks,” the SaberCats said in the statement.

Jacksonville head coach Les Moss told Coble after the incident that the whole thing should have been avoided.

“It’s good to know Tim’s going to be all right,” Moss said. “It could have been worse. San Jose won the game, so I don’t know why they had a problem. Next time, everyone just needs to shake hands and move on.”

Bouchy told Coble that the Arena Football League has informed him that it is investigating and is assigning a private investigator to look into the incident.

The fight follows last week’s arrest of the Sharks’ sports medicine director, Douglas Michael Kleiner, 49, on charges of trafficking in and dispensing controlled substances, dispensing medications without a license and practicing medicine without a license. Kleiner has since resigned.

And what’s happened on the field lately hasn’t been any better.

After starting the season with a team-record six consecutive wins, Jacksonville now has lost three in a row. Turnovers on the first two series of the second half put the Sharks in a 21-point hole and they never recovered.

“When you have one of those types of teams like San Jose, you know you’re going to have to match them score for score,” Moss told Coble. “You can’t mess it up. We flinched first.”

I might be misremembering, but wasn't there a brawl recently at a baseball game between a San Jose area team and a Jacksonville area team at some tournament or something? And didn't that San Jose team also release a statement to their local media alleging that the brawl began because of a racial slur used by someone from the FL team? I don't know what was or wasn't said in either instance (though in this era when pretty much every sports team has black and white players it seems unlikely that a white player, coach or owner would lash out with a racial slur), but I can envision that a western team might attempt to smooth things over with their fans back home by claiming that a southern team provoked the brawl by using a racial slur. And, sadly, their western fans would probably be quick to swallow such "whitewashing."

That said, it wouldn't surprise me if a 68 year old man, particulalrly one who was agitated, told a 42 year old man of any race something along the lines of, "Mind your own business and butt out, boy." While I understand why a black might consider that to be a racial slur, the fact is that in previous generations it was also frequently used without any intent to make a racial slur, particularly when an elderly person was addressing a much younger person. In my only encounter with Bobby Bowden, back in the mid 90's, I was awaiting his arrival at a radio broadcast being held at a Tallahassee pizza joint. When he walked in, I said, "Hi, Coach Bowden," and as he rushed past he said, "Hey, boy" in an enthusiastic manner. I'm white and I was about 38 years old at the time - hardly a "boy."

Once a thug, always a thug. As far as any name calling the N-word is used all the time by members of this race. The only time it is offensive to them is if a white person uses it.
I doubt if he will be extradited when he doesn't show up.